The Power of Friendship
by Death Jester
Summary: A young exchange student comes to live with Yugi and his Grandfather, and his arrival is the catalyst for a entire chain of events that will change the lives of everyone around him
1. The Power of Friendship

The Power of Friendship

****

I started playing Duel Monsters about two years ago when it had just come out. I had bought myself a starter deck and a few booster packs with the money I had gotten for my birthday, I didn't pull anything overly spectacular, but I could make a fairly good deck out of it.

It was centered on Shadow Ghoul and a few combo's that I thought were fairly nasty, but I had fun mostly. I wasn't at the tournaments too be the best, I was just there to have fun. I had a descent record at the local card shop, 25 wins to 9 losses, and I could hold my own in a battle, even against our best duelist. 

I had gotten a summer job that year, and I began to play Duel Monsters less and less, until I hadn't played for over four months. I decided to stop playing, as I was happy making money, and I would rather make money then miss out on a shift or two for a card game. 

It was later that year, around Christmas time that I signed up for an Extended Student Exchange Program, which would start the first of the next year. I already had the money to pay for the ticket to Japan, so I just wrote them a check and waited for the exchange to start. 

I worked for most of the time, doing my class work. I never had any friends there, and I didn't really want any either. I took my spare time, and in the year that I had too prepare, I had a grasp of the Japanese Language that most Japanese students of my age had. I had once been told that I had a I.Q over 200, I just thought that the schoolwork was easy, I mean, who couldn't make a fraction out of a logarithm?

I was sixteen when I left for the airport, and I would be in Japan working and living there until I was twenty-two. I didn't mind though, I didn't have anything that would really keep me around. My family was pretty much split up, my Brother and Sister lived with my mother in Idaho, so it was just me and my father, who drove big rig trucks for a living, so he wasn't around very much either.

Now, I'm not saying that he was a 'Bad Dad', but he just never really cared much about me after mom left, but I'm not going to get into that. I went to the airport on my motor scooter, hauling my little trailer that held my suitcase and other things. I got to the airport and put the suitcase and motor scooter through the baggage check, then my carry on duffel bag. 

I got onto the plane alone, the others had already gotten on their flight hours ago, and were most likely part of the way there. I sat down, in the aisle on the left side of the plane and set my duffel bag down underneath me.

I grabbed out my only two compatriots on this flight, a notepad with a pen, and a book. I looked down at it; it was the only gift my father gave me for my birthday. I hauled the massive book up and onto the tray, then looked at the cover; 'War and Peace' shone back at me from the leather bound book, the lettering in gold leaf. 

"Dad… sometimes you surprise me," I said with a chuckle, and I cracked into the massive literary monster.  The flight took 20 hours, what with the stop over in Cairo, and I arrived in Japan in the wee hours of the morning, 5:30 a.m. to be precise. The only problem was that it felt like it was 5:30 p.m.! I stepped off the loading dock and into the terminal proper at about 6 a.m. and collected my baggage.

I had the address of the people that I would be staying with, a Mr. Solomon Motou, and I doubted that he would be out here this early, so I hooked up my baggage trailer to my motor scooter, and began to walk the machine out of the terminal.

When I got to the reception area, I saw a older gentleman with a orange bandana on his head, standing there with a young man whom had the most outrageous hair I had *****ever*** seen! It was nearly purple it was such a dark red, and it had blond spikes in the front! The young man was holding up a sign that had 'summers' written on it in big black magic marker with al sorts of decorations on it. I walked forward softly, putting the scooter on its kickstand, and I walked towards the two of them. **

"You must be Mr.Motou," I said, bowing as I did. The two of them nearly leapt out of their skin and turned to me. I had a small smile on my face, I hadn't intended to scare them, but people said I had a silent walk. The young man looked up, *way* up, and he smiled. I think the kid was maybe five foot four inches tall, and since I stood an even six-foot-five, I dwarfed the young man.

Now, I was no Bronze Adonis, I was overly skinny, with long, spindly limbs. They used to call me 'spider-boy' back in school. The older man smiled to me and nodded. 

"That I am, and you must be Keith, right? And just call me Grandpa" he said with a chuckle. The boy had an odd pendant around his neck, and large inverted pyramid with the Eye of Ra on it. 

"I like your necklace, young one" I said, rubbing a small pin on my vest. 

"Thanks, I like your pin too" he said, his voice bright and chipper. 

"Name's-"

"Keith Summers, I know, we got a package on where you came from a few weeks ago"

"Well, since I'm so well-known around here, can I ask you-"

"Yugi! Yugi Motou!" he said, taking my hand in his and giving it a firm shake. 

"Aren't we eager?" I said with a soft smile. Yugi chuckled and walked to Mr. Motou's car, well, it was a mini-van in all respects, and it was already pretty full!

"I brought some friends, I hope you don't mind" Yugi said a little apprehensively.

"No, but where am I going to put this?" I asked, patting my motor scooter. Mr.Motou smiled. 

"We can put it on the roof, and you can sit in the back so you can get to know everyone. Joey!! Tristan!!

Get out here and help me with this!!" he called. Two of the guys got out of the minivan, smiled at me, and I watched with my heart in my throat as they hefted over $1500 worth of machinery onto the roof of the minivan, then tied it down with a few bungee cords. I was a little apprehensive, I was never good at first impressons, and I really didn't like the idea of being cramped in the back of the small van. 

"So Keith, what do you like to do in your spare time?" Yugi asked. I looked at him and shrugged. 

We all piled into the van, which I noted was actually a full sized, eight-seat van. During the ride, Yugi

introduced me to his friends, and Joey was babbling on and on. But I did pick up one thing; He mentioned Duel Monsters. I had brought my deck, as I might find someone to play with, but I wasn't sure.

"You play Duel Monsters?" I asked.

"Damn straight I do! Came in second in the Duelist Kingdom Tournament!"

"Oh… cool. I was wondering… you wanna have a game when we get back and I'm settled in?"

"Sure! And I'll even go easy on you!!" he said with assurance in his voice. Yugi looked at me. 

"You had better be careful, Joey's pretty good!"

"Hey, it's all fun, ain't it?" I said with a small smile. To say that I was as nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs would've been a gross understatement. I fished my deck out from within the confines of my duffel bag and began to idly shuffle it. 

Well, this is the first chapter of a Yu-Gi-Oh! Story that I hope will be good. Oh, and by the way, the deck my character uses will not have any super-powerful-made-up-special cards that these fanfiction's usually have. If anything, the only place you'll see those are in a certain bad guys deck. Please Read and review.

Signed;

Your friendly Neighborhood Death Jester.


	2. Opening Gambit

It was about ten or fifteen minute's after we had left the airport I noticed that Yugi and his friends were all *staring* at me, not in a bad way, just in a way that was… probing. I guess you could say they were trying to figure me out. I had a small, nervous smile on my face, and I had been intently studying the floor for another few moments when Joey leaned forward and looked at me.

"Hey, you play Duel Monster's Keith?" he asked as I very nearly leapt out of my skin. 

"Erm. Uh.. y-yeah… that is to say.. I _did_.. but that was about a year ago, why?" I asked, slightly startled and a little bit nervous.

"Just wonderin' if you wanted to have a game when we got back to Yugi's Grandfather's Game Shop, that's all" he said with a congenial smile.

"I guess.. I'm not totally sure on the rules you play by though… would you mind telling me?" I asked timidly.

"No problem! Well, it's your basic rules, Eight-thousand Life points to start, five card draw, we _do_ use the tribute rules by the way, and that's about it. You remember the rest, right?" I nodded, leaning down and retrieving my deck from within my duffle bag. 

I smiled nervously as I began to shuffle it, running over and over again my strategies and card combos, which cards I had to watch out for, and other such things like that. Joey began to talk about how good he was and other such things, my mind had wandered off a few moments before that and I only gave token nods when he asked me questions. 

We arrived at the game shop, called 'Game Shop', and we all piled out of the van, Joey and Tristen getting my motor scooter off of the roof, and they all began to walk in. Yugi looked at me with a reassuring smile, and he walked over to me.

"You be careful against Joey, he's pretty good."

"I will be… I don't even remember the rules quite clearly" I said, taking my baggage in. After I had been settled in the room with Yugi, I went back downstairs to look at the shop. I blinked, and I would've sworn I was drooling too, considering that sitting in the display cases were cards I had only heard _rumours_ about. I looked around, Joey was already sitting down, deck on the table.

"Alright, alright, I get the message" I said, taking a seat beside Joey. I grabbed my deck, this one being a total revision on my old one, and I looked at him.

"Well, let's get started, hm?" I asked with a quiet voice. He nodded, shuffling his deck, as did I, and we drew our cards. I looked at the cards I had drawn, and it was all I could do to suppress a smile. I had drawn a few of my favourite cards, namely my Summoned Skull, two of my Spear Cretins, one of my favourite traps, Just Desserts, and a Dian Keto the Cure Master. I nodded to him.

"Jeet-Kun-Pon for first turn?" Joey asked, raising his hand. The words were quickly translated in my head, the game was Rock, Paper, Scissors. I nodded, raising my hand and I threw paper. Joey threw rock. 

"Too bad" I said softly, playing my Dian Keto, setting my Spear Cretin in defence mode, and setting my Just Desserts. 

"So, correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm at nine thousand life point's right?" I asked, not quite sure.

"Yeah, yeah, nine thousand, you done?" He asked with a grin on his face. I nodded, and he started his turn. He grinned and looked at me.

"I set these two cards down, and summon my Axe Raider in attack mode! And now I'll attack your face down monster!" He said, very sure of himself. 

"Okay" I said, sending the Spear Cretin to the graveyard. 

"Your Go" he said. I nodded and drew. Even though my face was like stone, I was elated. The first card of my three card combo was in my hand, Skull Invitation. The card dealt three hundred damage to anyone who had a card go to the graveyard. I set my other Spear Cretin in defence mode and signalled that I was done. Joey drew and smiled. He set a creature in defence mode and then attacked with Axe Raider again. My second Spear Cretin went to the graveyard, which activated its effect, and I grabbed the first one out of my graveyard.

"Hey! Why you gettin' a creature from your graveyard?" Joey asked. I handed him my Spear Cretin. 

"Oh" was all he said. 

"Done your turn?" I asked softly.

"Huh? Yeah.." he said. I nodded and drew. I had gotten a Shallow Grave, and then I looked at him. 

"Well, time to make some noise" I said, flipping my Spear Cretin and then tributing it to bring out my Summoned Skull. The Cretin's effect went off again, allowing me to grab the other one in my graveyard again. I smiled and looked at him. 

"I'll attack your Axe Raider" Joey grinned at me.

"Not so fast! I'll activate my two face down cards! Skull Dice and Graceful Dice!" He flipped the two cards. He took two dice out of his pocket and smiled. 

"This white dice 'ere is how much my monster's attack and defence will go up by, and this black one is how much your Demon Summon's attack will go down by!" He said with exuberance. He rolled. 

"Come on double Sixes!!" He said as we watched the dice stop rolling. 

"Aw Man! A five and a three!" he groaned. While the five dropped my Summoned Skull's attack points to two thousand, the three raised his Axe Raider's attack points to two thousand, which made them kill each other.

"Well, better than taking eight hundred points of damage, no?" I said softly. 

"Yeah yeah… I'm done." He muttered. I nodded and drew. I had drawn a Wall of Illusion, and I set it in defence mode. 

"Your turn" I said. Joey nodded and drew, set a monster in defence mode, then nodded for me to go. I drew a Trap Hole, set it, and the battle of wills started. I watched Joey bring out his Panther Warrior, which was his fifth monster, and I smiled. 

"In reaction to your playing Panther Warrior, I activate Just Desserts! Take twenty-five-hundred damage!" Joey blinked at me for a moment.

"What!" He said as Yugi marked the life points off. "Fine then! Take this! Panther Warrior attacks your face down monster!" I nodded, flipping my Wall of Illusion face up. 

"Well, it's dead, but your Panther Warrior is back in your hand"

"Yeah yeah.. I know, I know!" Joey said, a little bit of tension in his voice. He nodded and I drew again, revealing a Sword of Deep-Seated. I kept it in my hand, and then it was Joey's turn. Joey grinned at me when he saw what he had drawn. 

"I tribute two of my face down monsters to summon my all time favorite card, Red-Eyes Black Dragon!" I blinked once as I saw the beast hit the table. I nodded, and flipped a trap card.

"I'll Trap Hole your Red-Eyes" Joey looked at me, and I swore that I saw sparks coming off his head. He ground his teeth a little, but he motioned to me that it was my turn. I drew as I averted my gaze, Joey looked pretty ticked. I looked at the card I had drawn, a Gravekeeper's Servant! The second card in my combo! I set my Skull invitation and played my Gravekeeper's Servant, then I played my shallow grave which I used to nab my Wall of Illusion with. Joey grabbed his Axe Raider. 

"So, you done?" he asked.

"Yeah" I said, nodding. Joey set a monster and then nodded. I drew, and I couldn't help but smile. 

"I'll set one creature face down, and then end my turn"

"Alright" he said, drawing as he did. He set one card in his magic/trap zone, and then smiled. 

"I'll attack your face down monster with my Axe Raider"

"Okay," I said as I flipped my Banisher of the Light. "Now, take three hundred points of blowback damage, take the top card of your deck and put it in your graveyard, and then take three hundred more from Skull Invitation, and then remove the card from the game because of Banisher of the Light!" I said, beaming with pride. My combo, which I had named the deck after, was out and performing brilliantly.

"Holy… nice combo Keith" Joey said, a bit mystified. I smiled a bit awkwardly and nodded.

"Thanks, I don't call the deck 'Invitation to a Nightmare' for nothing" I said with a small grin. It was my turn. I smiled as I drew, for I drew my Chorus of Sanctuary, which pumped all my defense creatures up by five hundred defense points. I equipped my Banisher with the Sword of Deep-Seated I drew a few turns ago, and then sat back, knowing Joey didn't have any Trap or Magic removal, and there wasn't anything in he deck that could crack three thousand defense points. Joey looked at me, then at the playing field. 

"I think I'm dead" he said, soft shock in his voice. 

"Well, you wanna just call it a draw?" I said sheepishly. 

"I'll take the draw" He said with a smile, and extended his hand. I grasped his and shook it.

"Good game Joey" I said, a nervous smile on my face. 

"Yeah, good game Keith" He said. 

We collected our cards and set them back in their carrying cases. I stood up and looked around at the store. Before I knew it, Yugi was standing beside me, smiling as usual. 

"Good game Keith! That was a brilliant strategy!" 

"Erm… thanks Yugi… I guess.. but my deck could use some sprucing up… like with that right there" I said, eyeing a creature in the display case. It was one I had heard of back home, Guardian Sphinx. A descent defense creature with twenty-four hundred defense points, but had the ability to send all my opponents creature's back to his hand when it flipped, and since it could turn itself back face down once per a turn, it was a very effective card, even if it was a five star card. 

"Yeah, that is a pretty effective card Keith, but I don't know if it's any good for your deck. Doesn't your deck rely on your opponent attacking you?"

"Well… erm.. yeah.. good point" I said, looking at him. 

"Mind if I look at your deck?" He asked. 

"Sure" I said, handing him the deck. 

"So tell me," he said as he shuffled through my deck "Do you trust your cards?" I looked at him quizzically for a moment, then spoke.

"Yess…" I said slowly. Yugi looked up at me with his characteristic smile.

"I see what you mean… I'd try to get a hold of a few La Jinn's or some Blood Vors"

"Their both on my list" I said with a small smile. My deck was good, but not great. I had a lot of four star sixteen and seventeen hundred attack strength monsters, and most could be upgraded to eighteen or nineteen hundred attack strength monsters. Some of the magic cards could be better as well, like taking my Hinotama's and making them Tremendous Fire's or Ookazi's. 

"It's a good deck Keith… I think I'll wait until later to face you." He said, walking upstairs and going into his room. I sat back down, Mr. Motou and myself the only people in the establishment. I smiled softly as I looked around. This place was nice, quiet, a place where I could collect my thoughts. 

"Hey Keith!!" I nearly leapt out of my skin, my internal reverie cut short as I looked up at Tristen. 

"Oh! Hey… Tristen, right?" I asked, not totally sure if I had his name right or not.

"Yeah, that's me" he said with a chuckle. "Come on," he said, motioning for me to follow him, which I did. I followed him to the roof and I looked at him for a few moments. 

"So, what's on your mind" I asked. He turned and looked at me. 

"Just wondering something…" he said, his voice a little dark. 

"Oh? Is there something I can help you with?" I asked, slightly perplexed. 

"Yeah, I want to know what you're doing here" he said.

"Uh… I'm here on a student exchange… why?" I said, a little apprehensive. What had I done now?

"I just want to know something…" He said, turning to me. His height and the trench coat he wore gave him a very imposing look.

"W-w-w-what?" I stammered, not wanting to get in a fight the first day I was here. 

"Well, it's more of a question" he said, popping his knuckles as he did, and walked forward slowly. 

"First off, I want to know how the hell you beat Joey, second, can you teach me, and third, keep your mitts off Tea'"

"Oh… err… okay" I blinked a few times, slightly confused and very relieved that I wasn't going to be beaten black and blue. I looked at him with apprehension, and I started to speak.

"I… well… with Joey…. I won because I got lucky, and I knew what my deck could do. Yeah, I can teach you… I noticed that Joey doesn't use many magic cards. Use that to your advantage, it can be a debilitating shortcoming in his deck… and Tea`… uhm.. well.. I don't know her… and I wouldn't presue her even if I wanted to… I'm not very interested in dating…" I wasn't lying either… the prospect of dating to me was as boring as watching paint dry. Or watching Saturday afternoon Golf. Tristen seemed satisfied with my answer and he went back downstairs. I stood up on the roof for a while, looking out over this new country that was to be my home for the next six years… I couldn't help but think that this was going to be a very different time indeed. 


End file.
